Punctuation marks are symbols that are used in sentences and phrases to make the meaning clearer.

é

acute accentThe acute accent is a symbol placed over a vowel in some languages (for example, French and Spanish).

&

ampersandAn ampersand is a symbol that means "and."

can't

apostropheAn apostrophe is a symbol that indicates that some letters have been omitted from a word (for example, "do not" can be written as the contraction "don't"). Apostrophes are also used to show possession (for example, Jane's doll means a doll belonging to Jane).

@

at signThe @ on keyboards and in email addresses is called the "at sign." You can write one easily by writing a lower case a, then continuing to draw an almost-complete circle around the a.

checkA check is mark that is used to note that something has been done or is correct.

ˆ

circumflexCircumflex is an accent placed over a vowel in some languages (such as French).

:

colonA colon is a punctuation mark that is used to introduce a list in a sentence or a quote, to separate two major parts of a sentence, to indicate a ratio (such as 1:2) or a time (8:15). For example: These students were on the honor roll: Lisa, Jason, and Jessica.

,

commaA comma is a punctuation mark used to separate words indepnedent phrases or clauses in a sentence.

—

dashA dash is a punctuation mark used to separate parts of a sentence. For example: The dash is also known as an "em dash" because it is the length of a printed letter m — it is longer than a hyphen.

dotA dot is a tiny speck or a period.

...

ellipsisAn ellipsis is three dots in a row; it is used to indicate that part of a sentence or sequence has been omitted. It is spoken, "dot, dot, dot." One example of the use of an ellipsis is: Smith said, "Rome had many terrible leaders, ... who caused the Empire to fall." Another example is the mathematical series: 1,3,5,7,9,... (the rest of the odd numbers are implied but not written down).

!

exclamation pointAn exclamation point is a punctuation mark that is used to show strong feeling!

`

grave accentThe grave accent is a symbol placed over a vowel in some languages (such as French).

-

hyphenThe hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join or to separate words. Some examples of hyphenated words are: merry-go-round, light-blue, twenty-four, and re-entry.

¶

paragraphA paragraph is a one or more sentences that cover a single topic. The symbol for paragraph is ¶.

periodA period is a dot used at the end of a sentence to indicate that it is the end.

question markA question mark lets you know that a sentence is a question.

"One if by land, ..."

quotation marksQuotation marks are used around a quote, when you want to relay exactly what was said or written.

;

semicolonA semicolon is a punctuation mark; it is used to separate major parts of a compound sentence.

~

tildeTilde is a mark placed over a letter in some languages (especially Spanish).

ü

umlautUmlaut is an mark placed over a vowel in some languages (especially German).

ABC 123

underlineWhen you underline (or underscore) something, you draw a line under it.